These 19 Richard Branson Quotes Explain Why He’s So Damn Successful

“Branding is everything. A young girl once came up to me and told me I could be famous because I looked just like Richard Branson!”

“A company is people…employees want to know…am I being listened to or am I a cog in the wheel? People really need to feel wanted.”

“All you have in life is your reputation: you may be very rich, but if you lose your good name, then you’ll never be happy. The thought will always lurk at the back of your mind that people don’t trust you. I had never really focused on what a good name meant before, but that night in prison made me understand.”

“As much as you need a strong personality to build a business from scratch, you also must understand the art of delegation. I have to be good at helping people run the individual businesses, and I have to be willing to step back. The company must be set up so it can continue without me.”

“Business is giving people in their lifetime and what they need and what they want.”

“Business opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming.”

“I had no interest whatsoever in running a company.”

“I’m inquisitive and I love a new challenge and if I feel that we can do it better than it’s been done by other people. We’ll have a go. Some people call that brand stretching and say that is not the way business should be done; and in the western world, generally it’s not the way business is done. And I think to be perfectly frank, the reason it’s not done that way is because most big companies are public. They have fund managers who only specialize in one area; and so if you stray outside the fund manager’s arena; the company gets criticized. Fortunately we’re not a public company; we’re a private group of companies, and I can do what I want.”

“I’ve had to create companies that I believe in 100%. These are companies I feel will make a genuine difference. Then I have to be willing to find the time myself to talk about them, promote them and market them. I don’t want to spend my life doing something that I’m not proud of.”

“If you’re good with people and you really care, genuinely care about people; then I’m sure we could find a job for you at Virgin.”

“Records are made to be broken. It’s in man’s nature to continue to strive to do just that.

“Ridiculous yachts, private planes and big limousines won’t make people enjoy life more and it sends out terrible messages to the people who work for them. It would be so much better if that money was spent in Africa and it’s about getting a balance.”

“Screw it, let’s do it.”

“The companies that look after their people are the companies that do really well. I’m sure we’d like a few other attributes, but that would be the most important one.”

“To be successful, you have to be out there, you have to hit the ground running, and if you have a good team around you and more than a fair share of luck, you might make something happen. But you certainly can’t guarantee it just by following someone else’s formula.”

“We look for opportunities where we can offer something better, fresher and more valuable and we seize them. We often move areas where the customer received a poor deal and where the competition is complacent. And with our growing e-commerce activities, we also look to deliver old products in new ways. We are proactive and quick to act, often leaving bigger and more cumbersome organizations in our wake”

“When people are placed in positions slightly above what they expect, they are apt to excel.”

“When we start a new venture, we base it on hard research and analysis. Typically, we review the industry and put ourselves in our customer’s shoes to see what we could do better.”